In the last moment of his life, with his breathing labored and his right lung collapsed, Nolan Scully was strong enough to open his eyes and smile at his mother.

"I love you mommy," the four-year-old told Ruth Scully, just before he died.

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The grieving mother shared that story and the hours leading up to it in an emotional Facebook post last week on her son's "NolanStrong" page, dedicated to chronicling his fight against of Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer. It has since received more than 600,000 shares and close to a million reactions.

Writing "two months since I've held you in my arms, heard how much you loved me, kissed those sweetie 'pie' lips," the post includes one of their finals conversations and a picture of Nolan on a shower rug "where once a beautiful, perfect little boy laid waiting for his Mommy."

Nolan's cancer fight touched thousands, as did his dream to be a police officer.